No, I'm not talking about the movie with Zac Efron and Leslie Mann. I'm talking about YA books and how 99% of every big release has a protagonist who's seventeen years old.
!!!
Read the blurbs on Goodreads, the backs of books in the bookstore. I know it fits the "coming of age" story, and YA is technically supposed to cut off at seventeen, but REALLY? Really, really, really? Is it imperative for a YA book to be successful to have the main character be seventeen?
I liked what Tamara Hart Heiner wrote about the "New YA" genre (for books with characters aged eighteen to early twenties). But is it really happening? Must EVERY story really be about seventeen? I realize most would say you hit adult at eighteen, but last I checked kids don't grow up in a single year.
You would think readers might respond to a slight change.
LOL! I've noticed this too!
ReplyDeleteAnd, eek, my MC is 17. For me though it ties into the story. The MC and her friends are in foster care, and facing the prospect of aging out of the system (among other things).
I have to say that while it's annoying to see so many 17 year olds, I get annoyed on the opposite end of the spectrum too. When the MC is 15 and somehow driving. Or the 14 year old whose parents leave them home alone for a week.
In YA there are just certain things that need a teenage character, but an older one who can drive and would be handling more responsibility (like jobs, cars, bills, kids, etc).
Basically, there's not a lot of options for the age of a teenager when they need to do certain things.
It's true. I know the age is chosen for a reason. Seventeen is when you're still home with your folks but you're smart enough to think independently. I just wonder if breaking from the age will ever be more embraced.
ReplyDeleteSeventeen is such a transitional stage in life. But I can't help thinking of all the possibilities for 14 and 15 yr-olds with awkwardness, NOT having transportation, wanting to be accepted in both the adult world and the world they are leaving behind... The age offers itself up to so many possibilities. Do you think the popularity of "17" has to do with the feasibility of sex? I have to wonder.
ReplyDeleteWell I do not wish to be 17 again...lol
ReplyDeleteDefinitely, Krista. It's a huge factor in most of the popular YA books I've read lately.
ReplyDeleteMe, either, Avalon. Sixteen wasn't bad, though I like my twenties way more.
I'm curious about the other end...books and tv where no one thinks twice about having 17 year olds drinking, moving in with boy/girlfriends, etc. I suppose it's the idea of the best of both worlds--young and safe, plus mature with freedom?
ReplyDeleteNot sure what you're saying Camsquat. You're too deep for my head.
ReplyDeleteI don't write YA so I've always been a little confused about the age thing. YA characters only go up to 17? And there aren't many adult characters in the work, right? How young for YA characters? And what about MG?
ReplyDeleteI'm really curious about this as there was a challenge posted for writing a MG love scene. I wondered what that would look like? Especially since the word love was code for sex.
Sorry to seem so addle-brained, but I'm really curious about the genre and it's requirements.
I don't read or write YA, but I sat in on a conference session a couple years ago about YA. The presenters said YA was for readers from early teens through mid-20s. Maybe the magic age is 17 because it's the mid-point. But why would someone in their 20s want to read about someone in high school? No real answer from me, just observations.
ReplyDeleteMy MC is eighteen! I'm breaking the rules for YA. That or jumping into New YA. I've even debated making her twenty one but decided against it.
ReplyDeleteThis is very interesting! I didn't know that. Maybe I'll make my character 17 and then the agents will talk to me??? J/K
ReplyDeleteThere's a reason for this. Editors are worried that readers won't want to read about a character who is younger than them. For MG, they like protagonists in the upper-age range and it's the same for YA. Do you really think teens and kids won't read about protagonists younger than they are?
ReplyDeleteOriginal MG 9-12
Original YA 13-18
SarahJayne, Theresa had great answers for the ages (see above). I think it's okay for adult characters in the work, but you're right that at least key characters need to be the YA age.
ReplyDeleteCarol, "But why would someone in their 20s want to read about someone in high school?" My sentiments exactly. Well, I have enjoyed several HS books and movies but I don't want to write about it. I like college age. So, my main character in the book with WiDo is 20 and my main character in my latest is 19. I like those ages; maybe I still think I'm 19 or 20. *sigh*
Karen, yay!! Eighteen!! I hope you can get your story out there so I can read it and route for you cuz you wrote about a character with a different age!!
Seriously, Aubrie. Seriously. Seriously.
Theresa, I agree that kids don't enjoy a story as much when a character is younger than them. But I suppose we get over that when we hit about 18. Many of us experience a first love around 17 and that makes great fiction.
Oh gosh, this makes me crazy too. I almost made my mc seventeen because of it. But for thepurposes of my plot, she really had to be 18. We'll see how it flies. *sigh.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear it's a question on your mind too!
ReplyDeleteI would guess part of the reason is 17 is close enough to adult for authors (and probably the general community) to not get too worried about the character exploring adult questions.
ReplyDeleteAl
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